Red Bull team boss Christian Horner believes that getting the tyres into their ideal working window was the key to beating Ferrari to victory at Imola. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez romped to a 1-2 finish - Red Bull's first since 2016 - on their rival's home soil, with Carlos Sainz retiring on the first lap and Charles Leclerc spinning out of contention for a podium late on. It came after Red Bull introduced several upgrades to the RB18, both weight-saving and aerodynamic, having been second-best to Ferrari at the previous round in Australia.
Red Bull get the better of Ferrari
Speaking after the race, Horner expressed his satisfaction at how Red Bull executed their weekend, and admitted that maximising Pirelli's rubber play a vital role. "I think, as we saw in Melbourne [with] the tyres, there's an operating window," Horner told media, including RacingNews365.com . "I think [with] the set-up this weekend, we got it right. "We could see that Charles was struggling a little bit more with the front tyres here than we were, both in [Saturday's] race and in the latter part of [Sunday's] race. "That just gave us the upper hand and I think Max was able to manage the race perfectly, [and] Checo (Perez) was able to build a gap to Charles and manage that gap. "At no point, other than one trip across the grass with Checo, did we really come under too much pressure."
Red Bull cover off Ferrari's alternate strategy
Red Bull's pit crew were called into action late in the race after Ferrari opted to roll the dice with a switch from Medium to Soft tyres. Horner reiterated that Red Bull had their tyres under control at all times but took the opportunity to respond and maintain the status quo. "I think that their front tyre was starting to get into a bit of trouble for them, so I think they needed to pit," said Horner. "They could see the traffic and I think they thought they'd take the opportunity whilst Checo was in traffic, but it didn't play out like that. "We were able to respond with Checo and then cover with Max and maintain track position on better tyres with both drivers."
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